Israel

Middle Eastern Realities

Former member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says Iran uses mosques in U.S. to plot jihad terror

December 18, 2010 — budsimmons

NOTE: Because Islam, with its shariah law, is not just a religion but also an
ideology (both totalitarian and imperialist), a mosque is not just a house of
prayer. A mosque is also a center for the propagation of that ideology, an
outpost for the spread of that ideology.]

[…] Reza Khalili: Mosques are supposed to be a place for prayer. A
place for submission to God. But they are used as a
recruitment center, for backdoor meetings, transfer of arms and cash and putting
together terrorist activities and I was involved in some of their
meetings.
Erick Stakelbeck: You made a key point, that Iran used mosques and Islamic
cultural centers in the West to further its agenda…could you get a little bit
more specific about that? How does Iran uses mosques here in the U.S. and in
Europe to plot terrorism?
Khalili: I can tell you from experience: I was part of the operation, I was
involved in the Islamic community, and I can tell you clearly that out of
mosques, there was a big effort within the Afghan communities by the Iranian
Revolutionary Guards members–and with Pakistanis, Turks and others. And they
would recruit from them, they would transfer cash and arms. And mosques
provided a safe haven, and actually, in my view, were one of the centers
of the operation. So if an intelligence agency such as the CIA infiltrates a
mosque and understands that there is a specific Guards member who runs it, then
actually they could be very successful in drawing a chart of all the terrorist
activities in that specific region. That’s how central the mosque operation
was.
Stakelbeck.: And that’s in Europe–you were involved in some of these
operations in Europe. How about the U.S.?
Khalili: It’s absolutely the same. They recruit, they train, they sell the
ideology of martyrdom, and many, many are guided and connected to terrorist
groups. And you’ve seen this: many U.S. born citizens, Muslims, unfortunately,
have been sold this idea and are sent to Al Qaeda camps or others. But the Iranians are very active in this country through the mosques and
Islamic cultural centers to make those connections and run those
operations.